How to travel back in time: Borobudur

Good day, my fellow travelers. We're continuing on in our UNESCO world heritage series, and our stop for today is Borobudur.

Where in the world?

Borobudur is a Buddhist temple located near Yogyakarta (pronounced Jog-ja-kar-ta) in Indonesia, which is in Southeast Asia. It is about an hour away by plane from the capital, Jakarta.

How to get there?

Pre-departure hoolabaloos include your passport and your visa. Make sure your passport has a six-month validity. The Indonesian government grants free visas for short visits for citizens of 12 countries. If you're not on this list, maybe you can get a visa on arrival if you're a citizen of these 60+ countries.

Once you've settled these matters, you can now pack your bags and go. Most flights to Yogya need to go to Jakarta first. So from Manila, take a flight to Jakarta via Philippine Airlines or Cebu Pacific. Then from there, take a domestic flight to Yogya. This'll be a quick flight (about an hour).

You're there. Now what?

Borobudur is in the middle of nowhere. There, I said it. The massive temple that looks like a six-layered cake and that was built in the 9th century is surrounded by mountains. There are also two active volcanoes nearby. Great idea to build a temple there. But hey, it lasted this long, hasn't it? Smart retorts aside, Borobudur is exactly where a temple should be. It's serene and perfect for sitting still.

The temple is laden with headless Buddha statues. Probably from earthquakes. Or theft. Or because said heads are in museums in the land of the Great Powers. #colonialism

Climb it to the top. Run your fingers along the walls. Walk the narrow paths. Look up to the sky and feel the sun. Breathe.

And then scale it down, go to the nearest town, and find yourself a cold beer. You deserve it.

Time to leave?

It's quite breathtaking to see it, to be there. You don't have to do anything here, now. You just need to be. In this place, at this time, you are where you need to be. You are the universe, and the universe is you. Take this oneness with you as you move on to other places.

#travel #indonesia #yogyakarta